The Los Angeles Angels traded right-hander Ervin Santana to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday for minor league left-hander Brandon Sisk.<p> The Angels exercised Santana`s $13 million option for next season before trading the Dominican veteran and cash to the Royals. (AP)

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."- Douglas Adams

Seems like a good deal. Royals need pitching and they didn't have to give up a big prospect. Will be interesting to see how much cash they got back as well. Santana is far from a sure thing but he has had good moments and worth the little they gave up.

I will say the Royals better not be done either. They need a lot more than just one guy.

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."- Douglas Adams

Santana is certainly a step in the right direction, but there are many many steps ahead. they now have Santana to go with Guthrie. a healthy Paulino will help. but even if things go right for 2013, can they even crack .500? Santana also only has 1 year left on his contract. are they going to try and sign him to an extension before the season starts? or is it more likely that Santana is someone that will end up being traded mid season for prospect or prospects?

This is one of those deals where that 39 HR season either signals the beginning of Ervin becoming terrible, or it's just a blip on the radar and he goes back to being above average.

The fact that LAA accepted a 27-year old minor league LOOGY for him (when they'd know him best of all) suggests that 2013 will be "6+ ERA here I come!"

I am not sure that is accurate. The Angles weren't going to pay Santana $13 million whether they believed he was going to have a 4 ERA or a 6 ERA. Bottom line is they are looking to free up money to sign Greinke. So they were either going to buy out Santana or send him to KC and at least get something for him.

Not saying that Santana is going to bounce back to decent SP but you can't really base the fact the Angles weren't interested just because they didn't bring him back.

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."- Douglas Adams

MaudDib wrote:Seems like a good deal. Royals need pitching and they didn't have to give up a big prospect. Will be interesting to see how much cash they got back as well. Santana is far from a sure thing but he has had good moments and worth the little they gave up.

I will say the Royals better not be done either. They need a lot more than just one guy.

Looks like they took on his whole contract minus the $1 million buy out, so $12 million, seems like a lot but I don't think they wanted to get into a bidding war with any other teams, so they give up an aging minor leaguer and pay the price.

The Angels would have had to pay a $1M buyout to Santana, so it was effectively a $12M option and the Royals paid it all. Which makes sense since the prospect they got back is worth approximately nothing, anyway.

MaudDib wrote:Seems like a good deal. Royals need pitching and they didn't have to give up a big prospect. Will be interesting to see how much cash they got back as well. Santana is far from a sure thing but he has had good moments and worth the little they gave up.

I will say the Royals better not be done either. They need a lot more than just one guy.

Looks like they took on his whole contract minus the $1 million buy out, so $12 million, seems like a lot but I don't think they wanted to get into a bidding war with any other teams, so they give up an aging minor leaguer and pay the price.

They are definatley over paying but it is only a one year deal which limits just how much it will hurt them. They have SP that could be ready for 2014 so it gets them to that time frame without having to sign a free agent and give them an extended contract.

They still have a long way to go to get this team competitive but this helps.

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."- Douglas Adams